Whiplash
by dbsavmlvr
Summary: Veronica comes back to Neptune after six years. AU- Not movie or book canon- LoVe- Fluffy, but mentions of trauma.


AU- Veronica comes back to Neptune after 6 years- Series Spoilers, Movie spoiler, but not canon- RT owns the characters- LoVe- Oneshot

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><p>He was leaning in to talk to his Navy buddies when he smelled a long familiar, long remembered scent. He sat up and looked around the bar sharply, but didn't see anyone who the smell could belong to. Besides, she hadn't been in Neptune for over six years. Someone would have mentioned it to him if she was back. Of course, he'd just gotten back from a nine month deployment himself and he didn't really have many pen pals aside from Dick and occasionally Mac. Now that he thought about it, there was no way Dick would have mentioned it. Dick wasn't exactly Veronica's biggest fan. Mac would probably have mentioned it, but he hadn't gotten an email from her since the first half of his deployment. That was odd. She usually sent him something every month or so. He'd have to look her up now that he was back.<p>

The smell was gone by the time he finished processing it through. It must have been a trick of the senses.

The guys were trying to decide which chicks to hit on. He glanced around to check things out himself. After all if he was smelling her randomly, it must be time for something, someone tangible. His eyes settled on one of the waitresses leaning over a table wiping it down. Nice ass, he thought. Really nice ass, showed off by the short skirt she was wearing. Hmmm, definitely could be a possibility. Then she stood up and turned and looked right at him.

Blue eyes, blonde hair, really nice ass. Marshmallows and promises. _Veronica_.

She smiled at him. A warm, real, happy-to-see-you smile that he hadn't seen in over six years- seven really since they hadn't really been on the best terms when she'd left town. It threw him even more off balance. He hadn't expected a smile like that whenever he imagined seeing her again. She'd left and had made no effort to talk to him, so he'd always assumed she was still mad at him. The crowd shifted and their eye contact was broken. Maybe he was hallucinating? Veronica Mars was not in the bar with him right now, he told himself, even as he craned his neck to try to catch a glimpse of her again. It wasn't like she had to try hard to get lost in a crowd, though. Five foot nothing (she always said 5'2", but come on.) made it easy to disappear if she wanted to and sometimes even if she didn't want to.

He looked at his buddies again, shook his head and asked them how many drinks he'd had. He must have had more than he thought if he was imagining her here. They looked at him oddly and reminded him he'd been nursing the same beer all night. "Getting old, Mouth? Forgetting what you're doing? What, the altitude get to you? Should we call a medic?"

He rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to snark back (It was how he'd earned his call sign after all) but the scent happened again and a familiar perky voice spoke right next to him. His words died in his throat.

"Hi, I'm Amber, your other waitress just went on break, so I'm going to take care of you."

Close up, she looked even better than she had across the bar. Her low cut tank and short jean skirt showed a slightly curvier body than the one he'd known so well. Her hair was about the same with bangs pulled to the side, slightly wavy and liberally sun streaked, it was pulled up at the moment. She looked barely older than the last time she'd been this close. Close enough to touch. Close enough to smell. _Marshmallows and Promises. _

Wait. Amber? Was she here on a job? That meant he couldn't blow her cover. Hmm.. This could be fun.

He shifted into charming mode and leaned in toward her getting another whiff of her scent. "Well, Amber, what would you recommend from this fine establishment?"

He saw the guys nudge each other as they saw his mood shift and they grinned. They loved to watch him charm the ladies. Usually there were bets placed on how fast he could wrap a chick around his finger. They usually lapped him up. He mentally shrugged, not this one. Veronica noticed his mannerisms change and her smile went up a notch as her eyes glinted. Oh yes, this was going to be fun.

She leaned in too. "Well, I usually recommend Sex on the Beach to pretty boys like you, but you look like you're due for a Screaming Orgasm."

His eyes went dark as he flashed back to sex on the beach and screaming orgasms with this woman in front of him. The slight flush on her cheeks told him she was remembering too. He shifted slightly to cover his growing erection and couldn't come up with a rejoinder before she smirked at him and moved on to take the other guys' orders. Then she looked at him once before she left the table.

"Why don't you surprise me. Seems like you're good at that." She smiled that same real smile she had when they'd locked eyes across the bar and then pushed her way back through the crowd and he eyes following her the whole way.

This was surreal. He really had no idea how he was supposed to be feeling. She'd left him behind. Sure, she'd given him reasons and they hadn't been together at the time, but she hadn't tried to keep in contact with him at all. Not even on fucking Facebook. And now she was here and acting like someone else, talking about screaming orgasms and sex on the beach and smiling at him. What the hell? How was he supposed to react? How was he supposed to feel. Why was she back? God, he'd missed her. Even these little intrigues of her job when she played someone else. He'd missed all of it, all of her.

During his internal monologue the guys had started giving him crap about striking out with her, but he brushed it off saying the night was young and he'd get her number at least. They didn't need to know he already had her number. Well her old number. If it was the same, he had it.

He'd kept his eyes on her, so he saw her attention shift from entering drink orders into the computer to one of the bartenders who was heading out on break. He knew her body language and knew this guy was the real reason she was here. She took last look at the door and then loaded her tray and headed back to his table. She gave the guys their drinks and put a glass of scotch straight up in front of him. He picked it up and sipped. She'd remembered his favorite.

She smiled, but he knew she was focused on the bartender now and not on him. He met her eyes and for a second he thought she might say something, then she smiled and walked away dropping a drink at another table and then pulled her phone out and sent a text.

He jerked, surprised, when his phone vibrated in his pocket a second and pulled it out. She'd texted him?

"If I'm not back in 5 minutes, call my dad. And the cops."

His head shot up to where she'd been standing, but of course, she was already gone. Shit. Wait. Did she just ask for backup? Who was this new Veronica? He needed to know. But he needed to make sure she was ok too. And he needed to know what she was playing at.

He got up telling the guys that he was going to the bathroom. Then he glanced around to make sure no one was watching and ducked through the door that he was sure she'd gone through.

He moved stealthily and tried to listen. He was glad he had remained silent because he came upon Veronica quicker than he'd expected. She had a small camera out and glanced over her shoulder at him in warning. The bartender was by the back door in the middle of a drug deal and it looked like a cop was selling it to him. Woah. Not your average cheating spouse here. Then the cop glanced around and moved away. The bartender started making his way back towards them. Veronica spun and threw herself into Logan's arms and kissed him. He knew it was a cover but didn't care. He kissed her back with all the longing that he'd had for five, no six years since he'd last kissed her. She tasted the same, felt the same, even with those slightly bigger curves, smelled the same. Veronica. Home. Veronica. Home.

"Amber. Geez. Can't you wait til after your shift?" The bartender had walked back and found them.

Veronica pulled back from Logan, but turned in his arms and slipped hers around his waist. "Sorry, Steve. My man here, just got back from deployment. We've just missed each other. It's been a while." And she looked up at Logan as she spoke and smiled. Her real Veronica smile, not her Amber one. She knew about the Navy. She knew he'd been deployed. A warmth that had been building since he'd seen her was growing even bigger. She had kept track of him. She'd cared enough to find out or ask someone.

"Ah. Cool man. You should get back to work, though, Amber. I'll have to tell Jack if you're not back in 3 minutes."

"Oh! Yeah. Thanks for covering for me. I'll be right back in." Perky, fake Amber voice was back. All he wanted to do was get her alone and find out what was going on. Well that and get her naked,

She watched the bartender walk back out to the bar and then looked up at Logan. She didn't pull away from him, though, which he thought was interesting. And enjoyable.

"Logan, I really want to talk to you, but I do need to finish up my shift. I am actually earning good tips tonight." She smiled at him again and started to pull away. He let her go reluctantly, but kept hold of her hand. Part of him was worried that she was going to disappear if he let go. But she said she wanted to talk and she was looking him in the eye with no evasions.

"Veronica." He started.

"No, I really do have to get back and we're going to need a long time to talk. Can we meet tomorrow?" Veronica said squeezing his hand.

"How late are you working tonight? I drove my own car here, so I can stay even if the guys are going to leave." There was no way he'd be able to sleep tonight and wait to talk to her.

"I'm off at 11:30, but I need to get back to the office to transfer those files and get the information to the people who need it."

"I'll wait. I can come with you." It was a tiny test. See if she'd let him come along. She'd already trusted him enough tonight to ask for backup tonight. Maybe it would extend to this?

She looked thoughtful. "Sure. If you want to." What? Really. Now he really needed to know what was going on with her. And what she wanted to talk to him about. There was no way he'd be able to wait for tomorrow. No fucking way. This had to be a fever dream or something. Maybe he'd crashed his plane and hit his head?

Then she pulled her hand out of his and headed back towards the bar. But just as she'd stepped away, she pivoted back. And kissed him again. Not a cover this time. Just because she wanted to. She pulled back after a minute or five minutes, he wasn't really sure, and smiled at him again. "Sorry. I just really missed doing that." And then she walked away leaving him standing there having no idea what had just happened and no idea what was going on.

It was 11:40 when she walked out of the bar. He was leaning against his car waiting for her.

He'd had an hour and a half to try to figure this out and was still completely confused about what was going on. He felt like he had whiplash. Being back from deployment was always a bit weird. Having access to a car and food and culture. Now he was adding in Veronica and his mind was racing. He needed to hear what she had to say.

And there she was. Studded shoulder bag that he knew from freshman year of college. Smiling at him. Walking up to him. She gestured to a black Prius parked not to far from his car. "That's mine. Do you want to follow me or do you know where Dad's new office is?"

"I'll follow you. Text me the address in case we get separated, though." As though he'd let that happen. There was no way. She pulled out her phone and texted him and then walked over to her car.

He followed her car closely. Then pulled up to a building where he saw the familiar Mars Investigations logo. He got out and met her at the door. She was pulling her keys out and punching numbers into a electric keypad as well. "Mac." She explained, gesturing at the keypad.

He kept following her, not really saying anything,. She'd said she wanted to talk. He would hear what she said before deciding what he wanted to say. He wandered around the office while she booted up a computer and started moving files from her camera to the computer. Then she started typing and was pretty much ignoring him, in full PI mode he'd seen more times that he could count.

"Dad moved here when the 09er opened. They raised the rent on the old office to get the old lessees out so that they could turn them into fancy lofts." She was still typing. "There's a Keurig over there if you want some coffee.' He went and made two cups just for something to do. When he placed the cup he'd made for her next to her hand she glanced up and said. "Thanks. I'm almost done."

"No rush." He said. And then he sat down on the old couch and watched her. Five minutes later. She'd finished and picked up the coffee and sat next to him on the couch.

"So." She said and sipped her coffee. She smiled at it and them him. "Perfect. One sugar. You remembered." He smiled back and then just looked at her.

"I came back about two months ago. I finished at Columbia Law and decided it was time to come home. I loved New York, but I missed home. I missed my dad. Wallace, Mac. And you. I missed you" She looked at him and then back at her coffee.

"Well. I always missed you, but I also needed to figure myself out. Then I was embarrassed and needed to work through everything. I've wanted to come talk to you for a long time, but it never seemed right, and then all of a sudden, it worked to come home. Good timing. I knew you were deployed, so I thought it would give me some time to settle in and then once you got home I'd contact you and we could talk. I was going to call you next week after you'd had a chance to settle back in. But there you were tonight." She was kind of rambling, but she kept his gaze.

"Embarrassed?" he queried.

She shifted to see him more easily on the sofa and then nodded.

"I was a bitch to you. And a pretty shitty girlfriend a lot of the time. I'm embarrassed and ashamed of myself. And I'm sorry for treating you the way I did." He stared at her. This was not what he was expecting. At all. Ever. What?

"I could give you all the excuses. Lilly, Duncan. Junior Year. Aaron. Beaver. Lianne. All of that. I never really dealt with any of it. I just pushed it down and built more walls. The more self sufficient I was, the less likely I was to get hurt. I pushed you away. I'm not saying you were perfect or didn't deserve some of it. But I was a mess and I treated you like crap because of it. It wasn't that I didn't love you. I did. More than I wanted to. You were the only one I let in even part way. But I didn't really deal with my issues with you well either. In some ways I set you up to fail because I didn't trust that I wasn't going to get hurt anyway, At least I had some control over it. When Lilly died and I needed you, you weren't there. You weren't there when I was raped, when I needed my friend." She drew a shuddering breath. "I didn't trust you fully because of that. I was waiting for you to turn on me again. Even when you proved over and over you were there for me. My innermost self just couldn't trust you not to hurt me again."

Again, he felt the vertigo sensation. What the hell. He knew all of this. Had known all of this, but he'd never expected Veronica to see it in herself. It seemed there was more, though. She wasn't done.

"When I left here after freshman year, I needed to be away from everything. I kept in touch with Mac and Wallace and my dad, of course. I had done so many crappy things. But I'd done good too. It was hard to reconcile. But I was not okay with putting you all in danger, which was what I was doing. I put all of you, the four people I love the most in the world, in pretty terrible positions in my quest for vengeance."

He did interrupt her there. "Going after Gory was my choice. You warned me. He needed to pay."

"And that was one of my fears. That you would do something worse than Gory, worse than beating up a police car to get put in a holding cell with Mercer- to, I don't know, Avenge me? I couldn't stand the thought of you being killed or thrown in jail for me. My dad lost the election. Mac pissed off a secret society, Wallace was shocked with a dog collar. None of it was worth it. None. So I left." She stood up to pace.

"I got the call from Stanford asking if I wanted the spot and the scholarship and I took it. After a few months up there I decided on Psychology as my major and in the course of my studies, I met a pretty amazing professor. She really helped me and eventually suggested her mentor as a therapist. Which is, of course, where all of this comes from. I've dealt with most of my issues, though my trust issues are sometimes still there. I'm still me, after all." She smiled at him and then sat down again.

"My final year at Columbia I decided to come home. I knew you were stationed near by. I wanted to tell you all this. I want to have you in my life again. I know it's been a long time and I know that I treated you terribly. I'd like to be friends. Well. Since I'm sharing my guts with you tonight, I want more than friends, but if friends is all you're willing to give me, I'll take it."

And then she stopped talking and looked at him. "I know this was a lot. I'm sure you have things to say to me as well. I'm fine if you want to take some time to think. Take whatever you need. I just needed you to know that I'm sorry and that you didn't deserve to be treated the way you were.. I came back for me, but I want you in my life again."

Logan got up this time and went to get another cup of coffee. It was almost one am at this point and his body was not really accustomed to this time zone yet. Not to mention he just needed something to do with his hands. The Navy had gotten rid of many of his twitches, but this situation was one that he had never had before. She was talking to him about her feelings. Veronica Mars was talking to him about her feelings. It was amazing. And scary. And he needed his conversation to keep going. Not that he'd really contributed much to the talk yet. It was going to be his turn soon. he sipped his coffee and walked around the room again. He felt her eyes on him, staring, waiting.

"First of all, I don't need time. I'm happy you're back and I want you in my life, too." She smiled at him brilliantly and he paused. Taking her in.

"Thank you for telling me all this. Thank you for trusting me with it now. I know that it isn't easy. But I need to apologize too. I didn't make it easy for you to trust me. I knew how you were. I knew that you'd find things out, but I just wanted you to trust me. In some ways I felt that it was punishment for how I treated you, I was a huge part of why you didn't trust people in the first place. Shelly's party. Junior year. My alibi. I got so mad when you didn't trust me, but I really never gave you reason to. I was messed up too. My mom. Aaron. Lilly, Felix.. I understand why you didn't trust me- didn't trust anyone. We were a couple of messed up kids. I don't want to say "bygones" because I think that diminishes what we had and what we went through, but I'm glad you're back. I'm glad you're talking to me like this. I'm really glad you kissed me earlier. I missed you and I missed that. You can use me as backup and/or kissing partners anytime you want." He grinned at her.

Veronica stood up and walked over to where he was standing and picked up his hands. He drew her into his arms and hugged her. She rested her head on his chest and they both sighed.

He didn't know what all this meant, but he did know that Veronica was here and in his arms and talking to him again. This was good. This was great. It had been less than six hours since he'd seen her in that bar and here they were, friends again. Maybe more. They'd have to see if they worked as not so messed up, responsible adults.


End file.
